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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 29: Zain Group, a leading provider of innovative technologies and digital lifestyle and ICT solutions operating in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces the end of another successful year for Zain Esports, the e-gaming arm of the Group. During 2024, Zain Esports undertook 50 tournaments and activations across Zain operations in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan, and Iraq. Since first launching in 2021, Zain Esports has attracted around 70,000 participants and garnered over 160 million social media impressions regionally. Moreover, Zain Esports currently has 210,000 social media followers and during 2024, over 820,000 unique viewers watched Zain Esports tournaments streamed live on Twitch and YouTube. Zain has invested heavily in network upgrades in recent years, with gaming being one of the most significant business use cases for 5G and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). Zain was able to identify this opportunity early on, working to cultivate the e-gaming community across the Middle East in general, and within its markets of operation in particular. This investment in network and resources has resulted in the development of a vibrant e-gaming ecosystem across regional markets, with Zain Esports leading and involved in multiple gaming activities centered around the main esports titles, namely Fortnite, Counter Strike, Call of Duty, PUBG Mobile, League of Legends, FC 24 (previously FIFA), Valorant, etc: Regionwide: Notably during 2024, Zain Esports partnered with Riot games in more than 15 venues across eight countries to launch the League of Legend MENA servers that saw more than five-thousand gamers participate and received more than 45 million impressions. Kuwait: Zain Esports conducted multiple offline FC (football) tournaments in Kuwait throughout 2024 with hundreds of gamers competing in the 62 matches that were played. Saudi Arabia- Zain Esports local arm PLAYHERA continued to support the Saudi gaming system Bahrain - Zain Esports partnered with universities to launch the Zain University League within the Kingdom, seeing more than 300 up and coming gamers participate in various tournaments and workshops held in the recently established Zain Esports Lab within the Zain HQ offices. Jordan - Zain partnered with the First Jordan Gaming and Esports Summit, as well as being the main sponsor of the Jordanian Esports Federation- collaborating in multiple tournaments across the year. Zain Esports in Jordan holds regular activations at its new state-of-the-art venue, the Dome, in partnership with gamerg.gg, a Jordanian esports company specializing in tournament organization. Iraq - Zain Esports participated in the Esports World Cup 2024 Tekken 8 held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Additionally, Zain Esports in Iraq was a strategic partner of the Iraq International Information & Telecommunication Technology Expo (ITEX), supporting its monthly events of esports tournaments. Malek Hammoud, Zain Group Chief Investment and Digital Officer said, “Gamers around the world are a passionate community, and in the Middle East this is no different. Zain remains committed to supporting the growth and development of this exciting, often youth-oriented activity, and we are extremely grateful to our partners and collaborators with whom we organize events, which capture the imagination and translate into successful opportunities for Zain Esports. All our stakeholders are impressed in how Zain Esports has evolved to become an integral part of the Zain’s data services across our footprint, with its popularity and reach having a positive impact on brand recognition and customer acquisition.” Beyond the brand and financial benefits accruing from participating in online gaming for the players, Zain’s activities in this area support operating companies to connect with the gaming community and provide data and similar high-value services. Spectators are also able watch the gaming and content live over Zain Esports social media channels, predominantly Twitch and YouTube, as well as over regular posts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. With the continual investments in 5G and FTTH network upgrades across its markets, Zain Esports will be empowered to offer more appealing activities and competitions in gaming during 2025 and beyond.A death occurred at Rocky Point Park over the weekend. Port Moody Police are describing the incident as a “sudden death,” adding early signs in the investigation point to nothing suspicious. “Anyone with information is asked to contact our investigators” stated media relations officer Const. Sam Zacharias. First responders were called to the park’s boat launch at around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday after receiving a report of a body floating in the Burrard Inlet, Zacharias said. He said the person was retrieved from the water and pronounced dead at the scene, adding police and the B.C. Coroners Service are still working on an ID and cause of death. Residents on social media reported seeing rescue boats rushing across the inlet.Secretaries of State are being told that any outgoings which are not contributing towards one of Labour’s “priorities” must be cut as Rachel Reeves vows to wield “an iron fist against waste.” In letters sent by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones, departments will be told to brace for “difficult” spending decisions in order to restore trust in the Government’s handling of the public finances. Every pound of departmental spending will be face a “line-by-line review” involving external finance experts from banks and think tanks in order to ensure it represents good value for money, the Treasury said. The Chancellor will on Tuesday launch the next round of Government spending, and is expected to warn departments that they “cannot operate in a business-as-usual way when reviewing their budgets for the coming years”. She will insist that areas focused on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s “plan for change”, which includes targets to improve living standards across the country and build 1.5 million homes, must be prioritised. Ms Reeves said: “By totally rewiring how the Government spends money we will be able to deliver our plan for change and focus on what matters for working people. “The previous government allowed millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to go to waste on poor value for money projects. We will not tolerate it; I said I would have an iron grip on the public finances and that means taking an iron fist against waste. “By reforming our public services, we will ensure they are up to scratch for modern day demands, saving money and delivering better services for people across the country. That’s why we will inspect every pound of Government spend, so that it goes to the right places and we put an end to all waste.” Under the Treasury’s plans, departments will ensure budgets are scrutinised by “challenge panels” of external experts including former senior management of Lloyd’s Banking Group, Barclays Bank and the Co-operative Group. These panels, which will also involve think tanks, academics and the private sector, will advise on which spending “is or isn’t necessary”, the ministry said. The Treasury said work has already begun, with an evaluation of the £6.5 million spent on a scheme that placed social workers in schools finding “no evidence of positive impact on social care outcomes”. “Departments will be advised that where spending is not contributing to a priority, it should be stopped,” it said. “Although some of these decisions will be difficult, the Chancellor is clear that the public must have trust in the Government that it is rooting out waste and that their taxes are being spent on their priorities.” Ms Reeves had already announced efficiency and productivity savings of 2% across departments in her autumn Budget as she seeks to put the public finances on a firmer footing. In a speech in east London, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden hinted at a further squeeze. “At the Budget the Chancellor demanded efficiency and productivity savings of 2% across departments – and there will be more to come,” he said. “As we launch the next phase of the spending review at its heart must be reform of the state in order to do a better job for the public.” The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of “missing opportunities and making self-defeating decisions” in the Budget, and urged it not to “make the same mistakes” in the spending review. The party’s Treasury spokeswoman, Daisy Cooper, said: “Leaving the social care sector in crisis is a false economy that will only put people at risk and damage the public finances. “The Government cannot afford to make the same mistakes in the spending review as they did with the Budget, missing opportunities and making self-defeating decisions. “The Government must use this Review to invest to save, taking into account the billions of pounds that could be saved in the NHS budget by investing.”
More than 18 months after the Veterans Administration paused new deployments of its Oracle electronic health record system to make critical improvements to the EHR and improve patient safety at five VA health systems, the agency announced Friday that it has improved veteran trust and clinician satisfaction. It's been more than 200 days since the last outage, the VA said. WHY IT MATTERS The agency said that during its EHR modernization program's reset period, it reviewed errors and worked with Oracle officials on hundreds of system improvements, updated contracts to hold the company accountable – which included monetary credits for failing to meet key performance accountability metrics – and instituted a new process to address system concerns when they arise. As a result of its efforts, the agency is ready to begin planning for new 2026 deployments, VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher said in a statement . Veteran outpatient trust scores have increased at all VA sites running the Oracle Health EHR since the beginning of the EHR modernization reset period, according to the agency. In April 2023, VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced a " full-stop on all planned deployments " of the Oracle Health EHR to focus on fixing issues identified at five sites using it – Spokane VA Health Care System, VA Walla Walla Health Care, Roseburg VA Health Care System, VA Southern Oregon Health Care and VA Central Ohio Health Care System. Comparing results of direct veteran surveys administered in the first quarter of last year, the VA said veteran outpatient trust scores increased at all EHR sites. The scores reached 93% at Columbus VA, part of the Central Ohio Healthcare System, representing an 11.6% increase; 88% at Walla Walla VA with a 4% increase; 92% at Mann-Grandstaff VA in Spokane, Wash., with a 3.5% increase; 85% at Roseburg, with a 5.2% increase; and 89% at White City VA, part of the VA Southern Oregon Healthcare System, with a 6.5% increase. The VA also said EHR outages have significantly decreased with the system functioning 100% of the time for 10 of the last 16 months and 99.8% the rest of the time. Of note, the agency said that there the average daily EHR user now experiences zero system interruptions – which it said represents minimized care delays for veterans. While veteran outpatient trust scores at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Healthcare Center in Chicago showed a marginal increase, from 90.2% to 90.8%, the agency called the Oracle Health EHR launch earlier this year a success that outperformed all five of the previous rollouts. The integrated VA and Department of Defense health system was one planned exception to the beleaguered EHR modernization program's pause. With the new EHR, the VA's Chicago health system rapidly increased productivity, the VA said in the announcement. THE LARGER TREND In April, McDonough told the House VA Committee in an update on the program reset that he anticipated having discussions before the end of the year about scheduling go-lives in 2025 . Then in September, the VA's Office of Inspector General said it determined that the VA and Oracle Health had been misaligned in their responses to system outages. In its audit report, the watchdog agency cited a lack of consistent response standards and weaknesses in several controls regulating configuration management and monitoring. OIG said action is still needed to prevent some EHR outages and mitigate risks to veterans in the VA's care. In November, President-elect Donald J. Trump nominated former Rep. Doug Collins , a Republican from Georgia, to serve as his administration's VA Secretary. "We'll fight tirelessly to streamline and cut regulations in the VA, root out corruption and ensure every veteran receives the benefits they've earned," Collins said on social media. "Together, we'll make the VA work for those who fought for us." ON THE RECORD "We paused deployments of the EHR for more than a year and a half to listen to veterans and clinicians, understand the issues and make improvements to the system," Bradsher said in a statement. "As a result of those efforts, veteran trust and system performance have improved across the board." Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News. Email: afox@himss.org Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
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BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Adam Jones ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns and Montana State ran over Montana 34-11 on Saturday to reclaim the Brawl of the Wild trophy. The Bobcats (12-0, 8-0 Big Sky Conference) wrapped up the 123rd meeting in this rivalry with 420 yards, 326 on the ground. Montana State capped its first unbeaten season and can match the school record for consecutive wins with a playoff win in two weeks. The Bobcats, ranked second in the FCS coaches poll, should be the top seed in the playoffs after top-ranked North Dakota State lost its finale to fifth-ranked South Dakota. Montana (8-4, 5-3), ranked 10th, is expected to add to its record 27 FCS playoff appearances but will not have a first-round bye in the 24-team bracket. Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott was 6-of-12 passing for 94 yards with a touchdown in poor conditions and added 50 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He has helped the Bobcats score at least 30 points in every game this season Mellott had a 5-yard touchdown run on MSU's first possession and Mellott found Jones for a 35-yard touchdown early in the second quarter for a 14-3 lead. Myles Sansted had two field goals in the final two minutes, including a 49-yarder as time expired for a 20-3 halftime lead. Jones dominated the second half and scored two short touchdowns. Eli Gillman scored on a 1-yard run for Montana's touchdown between the Jones' touchdowns. The Grizzlies had just 234 yards and went 2 of 12 on third down. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football . Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://apnews.com/cfbtop25The Brazosport Christian Eagles might not have gotten as far as they wanted, but nearly the entire team made the all-district football list. BCS finished runner-up in TAPPS District 6-1A, Division 3 play with a 2-1 record and 4-7 overall. The Eagles started the year 0-5, with each game being against state-ranked teams in preparation for a deep playoff run. The Eagles’ season concluded in the first round of the playoffs. Divine Savior Academy (3-0, 8-3) won the district, followed by BCS, Baytown Christian (1-2, 4-6) and Galveston O’Connell (0-3, 0-8). First-team offensive selections for Brazosport Christian included Kane Knighton, receiver; Wyatt Jansky, center; David Kier, quarterback; Kole Calhoun, running back; Luke Coburn, tight end; and Joshua Simmons, kicker. Other offensive first-team selections include Divine Savior’s Geoffrey Rutledge, lineman; Elijah Cotright, receiver; Justin Abboud, spread back; and Preston Blackburn, utility back. BCS’ defensive first-team honorees include Hayden Blagg, lineman; James Moore, linebacker; and defensive backs Tyson Sullivan and Knighton. Other defensive first-teamers include Divine Savior linemen Cortright and Blackburn, linebackers Morgan Peltier and Abboud and defensive back Jackson Lohman; and Baytown Christian’s Kaden Savage, defensive back, and Zakary Ligon, punter. Second-team offensive selections for BCS include Sullivan at receiver, and Blagg at spread back. Other selections include Galveston O’Connell’s Jordan Adams, lineman; Divine Savior’s Lohman, receiver; and Baytown Christian’s Keenan Wilson, center, Ligon, quarterback, running backs Jonathan Cornelius and Joseph Cohen, Josiah Murray, utility back, Henry Hartleib, tight end, and Savage, kicker. Second-team defenders for BCS include Coburn, lineman, Aiden Rodriguez, linebacker, and Lance Klepzig, defensive back. Other second-team defenders include Baytown Christian’s Cohen, lineman, and Matthieu Salom, linebacker; Divine Savior’s Rutledge, lineman, Abboud, linebacker and Weston Jemelka, defensive back; and O’Connell’s defensive backs Jordan Davis and Randal Koplin. BCS did not have an honorable mention selection. Other honorable mention players included Baytown Christian’s Joshua Taylor, offensive lineman, defensive linemen Hartleib and Salom, Cornelius, linebacker and Shooter Cornett, defensive back; Divine Savior’s Tyler Martinez, center, and Andres Arellano, kicker; and O’Connell running backs Soren Anderson and Tay’Vion Henry, Davis, spread back, and Anderson, defensive lineman. Several Eagles also were named to the TAPPS all-state teams. Earning a first-team selection was Moore, defensive back. Second-team honors went to Blagg, defensive lineman, Knighton, defensive back, and earning honorable mention designation were Knighton, receiver, Calhoun, running back, and Coburn, tight end.Scott Bessent a credible, safe pick for Treasury: experts
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I'M A Celebrity viewers were left in tears as Oti Mabuse's husband gave her a very meaningful gift in a jungle surprise. The emotional moment came during a special segment where the remaining six celebrities were treated to surprise visits from their loved ones. Each reunion was packed with emotion, but it was Oti’s meeting with Marius that stood out for fans. As Oti, 34, walked through the jungle, she was stunned to spot dancer Marius , 41, waiting for her at the creek, reaching out his arms wide, ready to lift her up into a big hug. Oti said: “Walking through the jungle this beautiful face was the last face I expected to see but the best surprise ever.” She told him: “You smell so good.” And Marius had a surprise or two for Oti. Telling her to check his pocket, she found an outfit that her baby had worn the day before. A crying Oti hugged and smelt it, as she declared: “This is the perfect gift!” Also to mark their ten year anniversary, Marius got her a new ring, as an excited Oti couldn’t wait to try it on. Oti said: “This is exactly what I needed to spur me on until the end.” As they went their separate ways, Oti gave him lots of kisses goodbye and she told him: “I love you.” Home audiences were touched by the moment, taking to X, formerly Twitter, to share their delight. One wrote: "Oti seeing her husband so sweet," while another added: "Oti is so cute!" Someone else said: "Danny and now Oti, I’m crying rivers tonight." A fourth concluded: "Oti and her husband, may this love find me." But it wasn't Oti who was surprised with a loved one. GK Barry was reunited with her mum Loretta, Reverend Richard Coles ' brother Will visited him, Danny Jones was surprised by his wife Georgia and son Cooper, Alan Halsall's brother Stephen came to see him and Coleen Rooney was surprised by her mother Colette and sons Kai and Cass. In last night's episode, Oti landed herself a place in the semi-final after winning the coveted golden ticket. The former Strictly star took on Danny, Maura and Coleen in Battle Blocks and wowed everyone with her impressive strategy. Covered in jungle slime and fish guts, and having to put their hands into different hell holes filled with critters to find all ten battle blocks, Maura screamed, as Danny laughed his way through. Meanwhile, Oti and Coleen both kept stealth with their game faces on. But Oti had a different plan to the rest, putting her civil engineering degree to good use, her tactic was to lay all ten blocks out on the floor and fit them like a puzzle to determine which way round they would successfully fit in the grid. Ant and Dec watched on saying: “That’s an interesting strategy, putting it on the floor first, even with stuff dropping down!” With tension building, Ant said: “Ooh Coleen is so close, has she got all her blocks?” as they watched her try and assemble the blocks into her grid. Meanwhile, Maura squealed as rotten fruit and veg dropped on her, as she shouted: “That’s enough!” As Ant and Dec deduced: “A lot of squealing and screaming, I don’t think that’s helping her at all.” The tension was getting to Danny, as he tried to place the blocks in the correct alignment, saying: “This is hard!” Oti picked her blocks up off the floor, as Dec questioned: “She’s getting them off the floor, straight in. Do you think she’s done it?” Ant replied: “It hasn’t really helped, has it? Or has it?” i'm A Celebrity is back for its 24th series, with a batch of famous faces living in the Aussie jungle. The Sun's Jake Penkethman takes a look at the stars on the show this year.. Coleen Rooney - Arguably the most famous name in the camp, the leading WAG, known for her marriage to Wayne Rooney , has made a grand return to TV as she looks to put the Wagatha Christie scandal behind her. The Sun revealed the mum-of-four had bagged an eye-watering deal worth over £1.5million to be on the show this year making her the highest-paid contestant ever. Tulisa - The popstar and former X Factor judge has made her triumphant TV comeback by signing up to this year's I'm A Celeb after shunning TV shows for many years. Known for being a member of the trio, N-Dubz, Tulisa became a household name back in 2011 when she signed on to replace Cheryl on ITV show The X Factor in a multi-million pound deal. Alan Halsall - The actor, known for playing the long-running role of Tyrone Dobbs on ITV soap opera Coronation Street, was originally signed up to head Down Under last year but an operation threw his scheduled appearance off-course. Now he has become the latest Corrie star to win over both the viewers and his fellow celebrities. Melvin Odoom - The Radio DJ has become a regular face on TV screens after rising to fame with presenting roles on Kiss FM, BBC Radio 1 and 4Music. Melvin has already been for a spin on the Strictly dancefloor and co-hosted The Xtra Factor with Rochelle Humes in 2015 but now he is facing up to his biggest challenge yet - the Aussie jungle . GK Barry - The UK's biggest social media personality, GK, whose real name is Grace Keeling, has transformed her TikTok stardom into a lucrative career. Aside from her popular social media channels, she hosts the weekly podcast, Saving Grace, and regularly appears on ITV talk show, Loose Women. She has even gone on to endorse popular brands such as PrettyLittleThing, KFC and Ann Summers. Dean McCullough - A rising star amongst this year's bunch of celebs , Dean first achieved notability through his radio appearances on Gaydio and BBC Radio 1. He was chosen to join the BBC station permanently in 2021 and has featured prominently ever since. He has enjoyed a crossover to ITV over the past year thanks to his guest slots on Big Brother spin-off show, Late & Live. Oti Mabuse - The pro dancer has signed up to her latest TV show after making her way through the biggest programmes on the box. She originally found fame on Strictly Come Dancing but has since branched out into the world of TV judging with appearances on former BBC show The Greatest Dancer as well as her current role on ITV's Dancing On Ice . Danny Jones - The McFly star was drafted into the programme last minute as a replacement for Tommy Fury. Danny is the second member of McFly to enter the jungle , after Dougie Poynter won the show in 2011. He is also considered a rising star on ITV as he's now one of the mentors on their Saturday night talent show, The Voice , along with bandmate Tom Fletcher. Jane Moore - The Loose Women star and The Sun columnist is braving the creepy crawlies this year. The star is ready for a new challenge - having recently split from her husband . It will be Jane's first foray into reality TV with the telly favourite having always said no to reality shows in the past. Barry McGuigan - Former pro boxer Barry is the latest fighting champ to head Down Under following in the footsteps of Tony Bellew and Amir Khan. It comes after a tough few years for Irish star Barry, who lost his daughter Danika to bowel cancer . He told The Late Late Show in 2021: "She was such an intrinsic part of the family that every day we ache." Maura Higgins - The Irish TV beauty first found fame on Love Island where she found a brief connection with dancer Curtis Pritchard . Since then, she has competed on Dancing On Ice as well as hosting the Irish version of the beauty contest, Glow Up. Since last year, she has been working on building up her career in the US by being the social media correspondent and host of Aftersun to accompany Love Island USA. She even guest hosted an episode of the spin-off, Love Island Games, in place of Maya Jama last year. Rev. Richard Coles - Former BBC radio host the Rev Richard Coles is a late arrival on I’m A Celebrity , and he's ready to spill the beans on his former employer. The former Communards and Strictly star , said the BBC did not know its a**e from its elbow last year. An insider said: "Rev Coles will have a variety of tales to tell from his wild days as a pop star in the Eighties, through to performing on Strictly and his later life as a man of the cloth." With the pressure building, Coleen, Danny, and Oti were neck and neck, all filling up their grids at a fast pace, whilst Maura hadn’t yet started putting blocks into the grid in front of her. Suddenly Oti burst out of her gameplay area and ran to press the golden buzzer, as golden confetti burst into the air and she jumped up and down celebrating. Dec remarked: “Oti! That was incredible!” Ant added: “Absolutely brilliant.” Telling them all about her tactic to lay out the blocks on the floor, her fellow celebrities clapped and congratulated her, whilst Ant said: “Work smart, not harder!” The moment then came for Dec to hand Oti the coveted golden ticket to Cyclone, granting her immunity for the next two vote-offs, and a guaranteed place in the Celebrity Cyclone. A very happy Oti grinned and said: “It feels amazing, I’ve got to wash my underwear more now!”Nigeria’s electoral process getting better —SoludoRevealed! NCC approves disconnection of exchange telecoms from MTN over debt
UN publishes new death toll for massacre of older people and Vodou religious leaders in HaitiJimmy Carter, the United States’ longest-lived president, was never afraid of speaking his mind. Forthright and fearless, the Nobel Prize winner took pot-shots at former prime minister Tony Blair and ex-US president George W Bush among others. His death came after repeated bouts of illness in which images of the increasingly frail former president failed to erase memories of his fierce spirit. Democrat James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr swept to power in 1977 with his Trust Me campaign helping to beat Republican president Gerald Ford. A skilled sportsman, Mr Carter left his home of Plains, Georgia, to join the US Navy, returning later to run his family’s peanut business. A stint in the Georgia senate lit the touchpaper on his political career and he rose to the top of the Democratic movement. But he will also be remembered for a bizarre encounter with a deeply disgruntled opponent. The president was enjoying a relaxing fishing trip near his home town in 1979 when his craft was attacked by a furious swamp rabbit which reportedly swam up to the boat hissing wildly. The press had a field day, with one paper bearing the headline President Attacked By Rabbit. Away from encounters with belligerent bunnies, Mr Carter’s willingness to address politically uncomfortable topics did not diminish with age. He recently said that he would be willing to travel to North Korea for peace talks on behalf of US President Donald Trump. He also famously mounted a ferocious and personal attack on Tony Blair over the Iraq war, weeks before the prime minister left office in June 2007. Asked how he would characterise Mr Blair’s relationship with Mr Bush, Mr Carter replied: “Abominable. Loyal, blind, apparently subservient. “I think that the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world.” Mr Carter was also voluble over the Rhodesia crisis, which was about to end during his presidency. His support for Robert Mugabe at the time generated widespread criticism. He was said to have ignored the warnings of many prominent Zimbabweans, black and white, about what sort of leader Mugabe would be. This was seen by Mr Carter’s critics as “deserving a prominent place among the outrages of the Carter years”. Mr Carter has since said he and his administration had spent more effort and worry on Rhodesia than on the Middle East. He admitted he had supported two revolutionaries in Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, and with hindsight said later that Mugabe had been “a good leader gone bad”, having at first been “a very enlightened president”. “In particular, the Jimmy Carter foreign policy... bears some responsibility for the fate of a small African country with scant connection to American national interests.” In recent years Mr Carter developed a reputation as an international peace negotiator. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his commitment to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts, his work with human rights and democracy initiatives, and his promotion of economic and social programmes. Mr Carter was dispatched to North Korea in August 2008 to secure the release of US citizen Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who had been sentenced to eight years of hard labour after being found guilty of illegally entering North Korea. He successfully secured the release of Mr Gomes. In 2010 he returned to the White House to greet President Barack Obama and discuss international affairs amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula. Proving politics runs in the family, in 2013 his grandson Jason, a state senator, announced his bid to become governor in Georgia, where his famous grandfather governed before becoming president. He eventually lost to incumbent Republican Nathan Deal. It would have been Mr Carter’s 39th trip to personally observe an international election. Three months later, on August 12, he revealed he had cancer which had been diagnosed after he underwent surgery to remove a small mass in his liver. Mr Obama was among the well-wishers hoping for Mr Carter’s full recovery after it was confirmed the cancer had spread widely. Melanoma had been found in his brain and liver, and Mr Carter underwent immunotherapy and radiation therapy, before announcing in March the following year that he no longer needed any treatment. In 2017, Mr Carter was taken to hospital as a precaution, after he became dehydrated at a home-building project in Canada. He was admitted to hospital on multiple occasions in 2019 having had a series of falls, suffering a brain bleed and a broken pelvis, as well as a stint to be treated for a urinary tract infection. Mr Carter spent much of the coronavirus pandemic largely at his home in Georgia, and did not attend Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021, but extended his “best wishes”. Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the closest adviser to Mr Carter during his term as US president, died in November 2023. She had been living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Mr Carter said in a statement following her death. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”
